To facilitate the recovery of hydrocarbons from oil and gas wells, the subterranean formations surrounding such wells can be hydraulically fractured. Hydraulic fracturing may be used to create cracks in subsurface formations to allow oil and/or gas to move toward the well. The formation is fractured by introducing a specially engineered fluid, sometimes referred to as fracturing fluid or fracturing slurry, at high pressure and high flow rates into the formation through one or more wellbores. The fracturing fluids may be loaded with proppant which are sized particles that may be mixed with the liquids of the fracturing fluid to help form an efficient conduit for production of hydrocarbons from the formation to the wellbore. Proppant may comprise naturally occurring sand grains or gravel, man-made proppants, e.g. fibers or resin coated sand, high-strength ceramic materials, e.g. sintered bauxite, or other suitable materials. The proppant collects heterogeneously or homogeneously inside the fractures to prop open the fractures formed in the formation. Effectively, the proppant creates planes of permeable conduits through which production fluids can flow to the wellbore.
At the well site, proppant and other fracturing fluid components are blended at a low-pressure side of the system. The oilfield materials often are delivered from storage facilities to a blender by pneumatic systems which blow the oilfield materials. Water-based liquid is added and the resulting fracturing fluid is delivered downhole under high pressure. However, handling of the proppant prior to blending tends to create substantial dust as the proppant is moved to the blender via blowers. As a result, dust control devices, e.g. vacuums, are employed in an effort to control the dust. The variety of equipment used in the process also tends to create a large footprint at the well site, and operating the equipment is generally a manually intensive process.